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Vritra the Howler
The one thing anyone can be sure of about the infamous Noise Champion and mercenary, Vritra the Howler, is that he is from Chemos. In truth, it's the only thing that he is sure about in his own past. Millenia passing through the warp, partaking in countless drugs, raids and orgies of depravity have all but robbed the creature of his own past memories. Not that he cares at all. As far as Vritra is concerned, the only thing worth living for is the moment. A true and utter nihilist, Vritra cares for absolutely nothing other than his insane quest for Slaanesh and spending every waking moment indulging in cacophonous, roiling excess. History Despite fighting at the side of Fulgrim, Lucius, Eidolon and other famous members of his legion, Vritra remembers very little about his fellow Third Legionaires. His clearest memories are of experiencing the Laeran-inspired performance that spawned the first Noise Marines, and participating in the massacre at Istvaan V. Beyond that it begins to blur. His presence has been seen in many battles ever since, as he and his Noise Marine cult, the Screaming Rapture, devastate the opposition with sonic weapons before defiling and desecrating everything they can get their claws on. The Maraviglia ''touched Vritra in a way that nothing else ever had in the remembrance hall, with his fellow Emperor's Children. As the assembled mortals and Astartes erupted into an insane spree of depravity and foulness, Vritra felt the power of Chaos awaken in him a terrible addiction, and urge to reach the emotional heights he felt when he heard Kynska's masterpiece. The decades of the Horus Heresy blur into one immense binge on chemicals as Vritra sought ever to artificially induce the perfect ecstasy he felt that day. The quest finally culminated when his ship, ''The Flayed Lady, as it retreated from Terra, made their way back to the Laer homeworld, as if drawn there by the Warp. There he found facilities housing genetic samples of Laeran DNA, which Vritra used to make narcotics for him and his crew. The answer was plain and simple. Narcotics and other chemicals could allow someone blessed by the Dark Prince of Chaos to experience immeasurable heights of sensation and pleasure, but nothing could come for free. In order for Slaanesh to provide this experience, tribute had to be paid, tribute in the form of living souls. In order to impress his goddess, and to prove himself the ultimate Xenoticant, Vritra vowed to find and consume the narcotic flavor of every sentient being he could, all in glorious tribute to Slaanesh. For centuries thereafter, Vritra and his small cult of Noise Marines, the Screaming Rapture, would go from battlefield to battlefield, hiring themselves out as mercenaries to any Chaos Lord willing to offer something interesting for the Rapture to consume. Unlike many Noise Marines, the Screaming Rapture tended to be too focused on the object of their desire to turn on their allies, and Vritra developed a reputation for being somewhat more reliable than his brethren. The Flayed Lady became as much a pleasure barge as it was a battlecruiser, refilling the slave stocks and recruiting cultists from anyone left alive after the Rapture had begun to tire of a location, knowing that the only ones who would be willing to come with them were either utterly broken or as mad as they were. Currently, Vritra and the Rapture are employed by the Serpent Kings, who utilize their services as enforcers in ruling the Shiva system within the Eye of Terror. After decades of deranged, messy indulgence, the Rapture has found it an amusing hobby to pretend to be the decadent daemon gods that the populace of Shiva think they are. Prayers are offered to avert the Screaming Rapture's attention, a phenomenon that amuses Vritra enough that he may even spare those who offer a good sacrifice, or decide to join the Rapture in the fun. Unlike Virgil or Vasuki, Vritra is a true nihilist, who believes in Slaanesh simply because she allows him his indulgences, which suits her just fine. Vritra will kill or violate anything with a pulse, mostly on one of his random, insane whims. The only thing Vritra can be counted on to do is something unexpected. Vritra has impressed Slaanesh to the level that he has received some dark blessings. First and most obvious is that he is fused into his suit, his nerves forming a spider web-like lattice over the outside of his armor, allowing him to experience sensation through it. His second blessing is his daemonic sword Nervescream. Notable Campaigns * Cleansing of 28-3 (Laeran) (ca. 000.M31) '- Vritra, Bal-Sareth and Mikael of an unknown company of Emperor's Children participated in the cleansing of Laeran of the serpentine xeno species. * '''Istvaan III Atrocity (005.M31) ' - Vritra and his squad participated in massacring the loyalist remnants of the Emperor's Children. * 'Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V (006.M31) ' - Vritra and his squad are inducted into the Kakophoni, the first Noise Marines. * 'Battle of Terra (014.M31) '- Under the command of Fulgrim, Lucius and Eidolon, Vritra was present at the Siege of Terra, and like his fellow Emperor's Children, got bored with the grueling, exhausting siege effort and plundered the civilians of Earth, killing hundreds of thousands and turning the majority into combat drugs. * 'Slave Wars (Unknown Date. M31) '- Like the rest of the Emperor's Children Legion, Vritra assisted Fabius Bile in stealing the corpse of Horus and cloning him, however he survived the destruction of Harmony as he was aboard The Flayed Lady ''in orbit when Abaddon destroyed it. While he never joined the official contingent of Black Legion Slaaneshi, the Children of Torment, Vritra has no problem with the Black Legion and has worked freelance with them on several Black Crusades. * '''Battle of Skalathrax (Unknown Date.M31) ' - Vritra and the rest of the Emperor's Children battled the World Eaters on Skalathrax. The battle was ended when Kharn the Betrayer burnt down their shelters in the face of a freezing blizzard, causing an immense free-for all. Vritra and his squad lost three members, leaving only him, Bal-Sareth and Mikael, who managed to fight their way back to their ship. * 'First Black Crusade (781.M31) '- Unlike many of his brothers within the Emperor's Children, Vritra eagerly joined Abbadon on the First Black Crusade, accompanying warbands of the Black Legion in sacking several Imperial Worlds before making off back to the Eye of Terror with cargo holds filled with plunder and slaves. * 'Battle of Oliensis (321.M37) '- The Screaming Rapture along with several other bands of Noise Marines made planetfall on the Slaaneshi Daemon World of Oliensis, shortly before the Sentinels chapter arrived as part of the Abyssal Crusade. The Screaming Rapture joined the rest of their Slaaneshi brethren in massacring the loyalists and dragging the survivors into the depths of the planet's pore-caverns, where they emerged as the Corpus Brethren. * 'Seventh Black Crusade (811.M37) '- Vritra and the Rapture rejoined Abaddon and his assembled traitors in destroying several Imperial Worlds. The Rapture eventually stalled on the Hive World of Cammulus V, where they forced the major hives into depraved orgies of decadence along with several other Slaaneshi, before they were driven off by the Carcharadons. * 'Echo of Pain (Unknown Date.M38) '- Vritra and the Screaming Rapture are hired to accompany Clamo of the Corpse Screams Night Lords to aid them in an attack on the Dread Echoes' third company as they investigated an Eldar Maiden world. Though the Night Lords and the Slaaneshi were eventually forced to retreat by the combined forces of the Eldar and the Raven Guard, Vritra slew several Eldar, cracking many Eldar spirit stones and offering their souls to Slaanesh. * 'Tenth Black Crusade (001.M39) '- The Screaming Rapture participated in the Tenth Black Crusade as a celebration of the new millenium. * 'Cholercaust Blood Crusade (Unknown Date.M41) '- The Screaming Rapture tailed the Khornate host following the Keeler Comet, and managed to pick off several straggler ships, murdering the crew, and dragging some unlucky World Eater prisoners back to The Flayed Lady before they broke off and escaped back to the Eye. * 'Battle of Makenna VII (Unknown Date.M41) '- Vritra and the Screaming Rapture accompanied Eleaxus of the Flawless Host and Davroth of the Word Bearers legion in conquering the Imperial World of Makenna VII. The Screaming Rapture accompanied two other squads of Noise Marines in Rhino transports, nicknaming themselves the Choir of the Damned. With his fellow traitors, the Screaming Rapture helped lay waste to the planetary civilizations and joined Eleaxus in the debauchery that followed. * 'Fall of Medusa V (999.M41) '- The Screaming Rapture, along with several other warbands of the Emperor's Children assisted Lucius and Ygethmor the Deceiver in laying siege to Medusa V. * 'Thirteenth Black Crusade (999.M41) '- The Screaming Rapture, as well as many other Noise Marines under the command of Lucius the Eternal, participated in the 13th Black Crusade. The Screaming Rapture was sighted on Extremis Six, alongside Lucius the Eternal and several other warbands of Emperor's Children, following in the wake of an immense, snakelike Daemon as they massacred the citizenry of the Hive World. * 'War of Raisa (Unknown Date.M42) '- Vritra and the Screaming Rapture accompanied Lucifero the Unmarked in an apocalyptic assault on Raisa. * [[Vitatum Crusade|'''Vitatum Crusade]]' (22.M42) '- Vritra accompanied his usual allies Lucifero, Valkyura and Azunar when Sir Jacob of Raline attempted to invade the Warp to rescue the soul of his beloved. Vritra confronted the Knight at the Gardens of Slaanesh, dueling him while the Flayed Lady rained orbital fire down onto the Imperial Army. Despite his best efforts, Vritra was cut down by Sir Jacob, but managed to survive by consuming several Warp-tainted fruits in the Garden. * The Neoviglia (Unknown Date.M42) '- After traveling through the Gardens of Slaanesh during the Vitatum Crusade, and consuming some of the Warp-grown fruit, Vritra was struck with a vision from the Dark Prince. Vritra's eyes were open, and he saw the pathway to ultimate, radiant pleasure, indeed, the greatest pleasure he could remember. Gathering a large host of Noise Marines, ''The Flayed Lady leads a fleet of Kakophoni, who quest to recover the accursed fragments of Bequa Kynska's masterpiece. The most depraved artists, musicians, killers and psychopaths in the galaxy aim to stage a show, displaying the new and improved Neoviglia, to what terrible end, no sane mortal can comprehend. Personality Vritra is like any other Noise Champion of the Pleasure God, in that he is vain, brutal, utterly sociopathic and addicted to so many substances that he has them flowing through his veins at all times. Despite this, however, Vritra tends to get along fine with other champions of chaos, regardless of Legion, warband or background. Despite other Emperor's Children tending to be haughty and condescending toward other Astartes, Vritra does not care much about bloodline and or ancestry, even allowing a Night Lord Noise Marine join the Rapture. This is not to imply any form of moral standard of course, it's simply that he has already violated, ground up and consumed humans and fellow Astartes so many times that it has simply become boring to indulge in. Because of his devotion to keeping himself in the highest possible emotional state, Vritra is often overly jovial and constantly cheerful, often to a dissonantly sociopathic degree. Extensive and mostly amateur surgery have removed any portion of his brain that can even perceive anything negatively, allowing Vritra to constantly be a friendly, affable monster. The only time this changes is when Vritra is denied his high or kept from tasting the essence of a truly new chemical. At those points, Vritra's personality becomes hollow and obviously fake, though still seemingly serene and relaxed. Because of these tendencies, it is very difficult to tell when Vritra has snapped until it is too late. Appearance Vritra is of a fairly average height and build for a space marine, with his power armor so warped and mutated that any sign of livery or finery is either long gone or blended impossibly with the organic mess, further obscuring his original rank and identity. His service to Slaanesh has come with a mutation along with his Mark, as a Chaos Champion. He is fused into his suit of power armor, beneath which pulses writhing muscle bonded directly to machinery. A lattice of exposed nerves, like a meaty spiderweb, are bonded to the ceramite plate and transmit all sensations to Vritra, making the armor take the place of his actual skin. Vritra wears a Doom Siren on his back, bonded to his power armor with both machinery and mutated, writhing organic parts. Speakers on the Siren are bonded directly to Vritra's vocal cords, earning his infamous nickname. Finally, Vritra possesses a Daemonic sword, yet another gift of Slaanesh known as Nervescream. This sword is a large scimitar that appears to be made of twisted meat and bone. Equipment * '''Mutated Mark V Heresy Power Armor - Vritra has remained in the same suit of Power Armor since the Dropsite Massacre on Istvaan V. The suit has bonded to his body in all possible ways, allowing the Astartes a degree of flexibility and grace comparable to wearing no armor at all. Because of its mutated and organic nature, the armor can heal damage to itself over time. * Doom Siren '''The Agony Choir' - Backpack mounted and connected to Vritra's vocal chords and lungs directly, allowing the Noise Champion to release the devastating howl he is named for. The Doom Siren amplifies the sound into a cone of condensed noise capable of liquifying organic matter and causing catastrophic failure in any kind of delicate system. Most of the time, the speakers of the Doom Siren looks like a pair screaming, daemonic faces, but occasionally, the warp-tainted metal reshapes itself into the face of one of the Noise Champion's victims, wailing in pain. * '''Daemonsword '''Nervescream' - A daemonically infested Power Sword recovered by Vritra from the world of Laeran, where he returned after the warband retreated from Terra. Nervescream is an immense, curved scimitar carved from smoothed bone and covered in pulsing veins. Even the slightest touch of Nervescream amplifies even the smallest sensation to that of blinding agony. Of course, this applies to anyone wielding Nervescream as well, ensuring that only a true devotee of Slaanesh could endure it. * 'Mark of Slaanesh '- Like all Champions of Chaos, Vritra has been marked by his chosen deity. The lattice of nerves on his right pauldron forms the seal of the Dark Prince. This mark of Chaos grants the Noise Champion superhuman reflexes and agility, beyond that of even a regular Astartes. Relations/Employers '''Feel free to add your own. Vritra is more than happy to work for any Chaos Lord to offer him new experiences and drugs. * St. Virgil the Immaculate - Chaos Lord of the Serpent Kings. * Abbadon the Despoiler '''- Warmaster of the Black Legion. Vritra and the Screaming Rapture partook in the 13th Black Crusade under the command of Lucius the Eternal, along with many other warbands of Emperor's Children. * '''The [[Red Hand|'Red Hand']]' Night Lords '- Fought alongside them, spreading terror as mercenaries. * [[Dark Covenant|'Dark Covenant']] * [[Corpse Screams|'Corpse Screams']]' Night Lords '- Vritra has fought alongside the vicious Night Lords as they ambushed the Dread Echoes chapter and an Eldar Maiden World. The groups have remained cordial ever since, united by a mutual interest in pillaging. * The Flawless Host '- As fellow Slaaneshi, Vritra often finds work with Eleaxus the Flawless. * [[Valkyura Warpschild|'Valkyura Warpschild]] - Often seeking specialist marines to support her cultist throngs, Valkyura will often entice Vritra to her employ, finding not only his skills but his company, exquisite. * Lucifero the Unmarked - 'The Questor Traitoris Knight of House Devine has fought along side Vritra in the days of the Horus Heresy, though Vritra has pointed out that they were never directly involved together under Fulgrims command. After Lucifero's return from the Eye of Terror, Vritra has another chance to serve alongside the legendary Knight of Chaos. The Screaming Rapture The Screaming Rapture are Vritra's personal band of Noise Marines. Unlike many of these Slaaneshi war-parties, Vritra is not exclusive in his men, and will allow members of any Astartes legion or chapter, provided they are truly devoted champions of Slaanesh. * '''Dirge '- A Night Lord Noise Marine, a cold and cruel scientist of experiences. Known for enjoying consuming the brain matter of his victims to enjoy their sensations. * 'Alpharius '- Alpharius is an anomaly. Despite that in all ways being a child of the Third Legion, even genetically, Alpharius claims to be an Alpha Legion agent who turned to Slaanesh when he was sent among the Emperor's Children. No one knows if he is telling the truth, lying, or utterly insane. None of the Rapture care terribly as he is still Slaaneshi to the core. * 'Salazar the Shaper '- Chosen and champion of Slaanesh, and formerly of the flesh-sculpting Violators warband. Rather uniquely, is not an original Astartes, rather he mutated into the rough equivalent of one for his service to Slaanesh, and was seen as a good omen by the Violators. Master of flesh-shaping, for medicinal, recreational and tactical purposes. Dual wields lightning claws which are wired directly into the pleasure-centers of his brain, sending a stimulating bolt of electricity up there every time the claws carve into flesh. * 'Bal-Sareth '- Noise Marine of the Screaming Rapture, originally from the Emperor's Children. Now a member of the Children of Torment, and thus, serves as the Screaming Rapture's Black Legion contact. Slaaneshi blessings have transformed him into a reptilian, centuroid hybrid. Bal-Sareth stars in a one-shot Black Crusade game, Against the Clock. * [[Mikael, the Laughing Swordsman |'''Mikael, the Laughing Swordsman ]]' '- Noise Marine, also formerly of the Emperor's Children. Arrogant and witty duelist, and a veteran of Skalathrax. Wears a repainted Khorne Berzerker helm to mock the blood-god. The Flayed Lady The Flayed Lady ''is a heavily modified and corrupted ''Iconoclast-''class Destroyer vessel that the Screaming Rapture has used since the days of the Heresy. Formerly part of the proud battlefleet of the Third Legion, ''The Flayed Lady is now a self-sufficient, corrupted vessel that roams the chaotic slipstreams of the Eye of Terror. While there is a large crew of slaves, Vritra and the rest of the Screaming Rapture each have personal chambers in the upper decks and a temple to Slaanesh hidden further, in the more organic recesses of the ship. Large sections of the ship have turned biological and the insides shift and mutate like the innards of some immense beast. The lairs of the Noise Marines are difficult to miss, being draped in flesh, barbed chains and blasphemous iconography, as well as putting forth a ceaseless cacophony and the odor of exotic spices and perfumes. In the lower decks is also a mostly-organic processing chamber that resembles an immense, open maw lined with rows of fangs. Slaves that have displeased the Rapture, as well as any captives the Noise Marines have grown bored of are thrown into the gaping maw where they are shredded, ground up, digested, and excreted by ship as potent narcotics. M42 M42 has seen many changes for Vritra and the Screaming Rapture. Like any Chaos Marine of standing, Vritra and crew helped Abaddon participate in the 13th Black Crusade, laying siege to Extremis Six at the side of Lucius the Eternal and an unknown, enormous snakelike Daemon. Vritra and the Rapture, like many Chaos Marines, are exceedingly happy that they are no longer trapped in the Eye of Terror and gleefully use the Crimson Path to prey on defenseless Imperial Worlds. Like many ancient, original Astartes, Vritra despises Primaris Marines. Millenia of belief that Astartes were the greatest examples of transhumanity notwithstanding, Vritra has fought alongside and against the greatest heroes and monsters mankind ever had to offer, and the thought of these upstart whelps upstaging them disgusts him. The Screaming Rapture, while wary of Primaris Marines, take a special pleasure in giving those captured a truly nightmarish and agonizingly slow death, before being ground up into narcotics. One thing all the Rapture can agree on is that combat drugs made from Primaris Marines are exquisite. Vritra secretly wants to be a Primaris Marine, viewing it as the natural, logical step for a seeker of perfection. Knowing that his brother Fabius Bile likely has the key to the Rapture's ascension, Vritra has carefully and subtly kept an eye on the rogue Apothecary. Of course, Vritra trusts the Clonemaster as much as the rest of his erstwhile brothers, and is determined to ambush him and steal the secret once he has it. Currently, the Serpent Kings have entered a period of stability within the Eye, uninterested in the Warmaster and his ambitions on the Imperium. As such, Vritra has taken his leave of them, and seems to have developed a horrific alliance with the infamous Chaos Knight Lucifero the Unmarked. At the dawn of the 42nd Millenium, Vritra has accompanied the Knight Contemptor on an apocalyptic invasion of Raisa. Vritra also took part in the Vitatum Crusade along with the rest of the Rapture as a specialized warrior in the hosts of Lucifero and Valkyura. They followed Sir Jacob into the Warp, The Flayed Lady raining fire down upon his allies as Vritra and he dueled. Vritra seemed to have come to believe that Sir Jacob of Raline was a rival champion of Slaanesh due to his arrogance. This seemed confirmed in his mind when he was cut down by the Knight, surviving only by consuming the Warp-grown fruit in the Garden. In his fevered dreams, Vritra saw the key to his ascension. Remembering Bequa Kynska's accursed symphony, The Maraviglia as the apex of all the pleasures he had ever known, Vritra gathered a host of Noise Marines and other Slaaneshi Astartes, seeking both the planet Laeran, and any remaining fragment of The Maraviglia. The depraved marines and their cultists are putting together a grand symphony, where, adding their own maddened tunes, they will play the Neovigilia, the ultimate discordant sound. What end they hope to achieve is unknown, but Cruel Glee and other Harlequins have given dire warnings to those Imperials who will listen that a catastrophe will occur if the Howler is successful. Vritra appears to have attacked the Webway several times now, with rumors that he intends to kidnap a Solitaire, to play Slaanesh in their grand masterpiece. Daemon Prince Thanks to a recent run-in with the mysterious Chaos Sorcerer Zurvan, Vritra has recieved twin visions from the Aeon-Walker, one showing his eventual ascension to a Daemon Prince, and the other showing his fall to a Chaos Spawn. Ever since receiving these visions, Vritra has been seeking a way to ascend, believing that with the dawn of M42, he has lingered in the mortal plane too long. Because of this, Vritra has been keeping his eyes open for any chance to ascend. In his dreams, his Daemonic form resembles an immense moth or butterfly, the faces of his victims screaming in his wings as he drinks the dreams and souls of mortals. With his vision in the Slaaneshi Gardens, Vritra may have found his key to ascension in the Neoviglia. Relationships Feel free to add your own Allies * [[Kulstov the Bloody-Handed|'Kulstov the Bloody-Handed']]' and the Red Hand Night Lords' - Despite many cultural difference, including the Red Hand's Raptor Champion favoring Khorne, the two groups have had to cling to each other for survival at times and have come to a mutual, if uneasy understanding thanks to Dirge, a mutual member of both. One thing both groups understand is the fun of spreading fear and depravity, and it is a bonding experience for the Third and Eighth legion when they ride together. * [[Alpharius the Stranger|'Alpharius the Stranger']]' '- A fellow mercenary, and supposed contact of the Alpharius that follows Vritra in the Screaming Rapture, the Stranger has proved a reliable ally for the Noise Marines, and in return, the Rapture are always happy to provide an immensely distracting massacre to draw attention away from the latest Alpha Legion operation. * [[Corpse Screams|'Corpse Screams']] - Captain Clamo Mihi once hired Vritra and the Rapture to join in one his attacks against his age old enemies the Dread Echoes Chapter, while they were scouting a Eldar Maiden World. The Corpse Screams and the Rapture were eventually forced to retreat by the combined forces of the chapter and the Eldar, but not before they reaped a beautiful tally of blood. * [[Valkyura Warpschild|'Valkyura Warpschild']] - The Daemon-host Sorceress of the Hellkin, Valkyura, holds what could only be described as a fondness for Vritra and his band of mad pleasure-seekers. As a Priestess of Chaos undivided, she fights to embody all aspects of the Pantheon, and show no favoritism in her worship. That said, she views Vritra as a perfect personification of the Dark Prince, completely self-serving even in worship to Slaanesh, precisely as She would want it. As a result, she finds Vitra's company exquisite in its decadent perfection, and will happy spend hours or days or weeks indulging in vices beside the mad Noise Marine. * Lucifero the Unmarked - Lucifero's return has changed much of Vritra's mission recently. Both veterans and comrades of the Horus Heresy, Lucifero has relied on Vritra and his Noise Marines to make devastating attacks on the House of Cadmus, per his new war against the Loyalist House. Enemies * [[Cruel Glee|'Cruel Glee']]' '- The Eldar Harlequin has taken a special interest in Vritra, as a servant of She Who Thirsts, the archenemy of the Eldar race. Often, Cruel Glee will delight in foiling the Noise Champion's plans, killing his servants and allies, often just before they can lend their aid. While Vritra despises the Death Jester, Cruel Glee appears to view Vritra as a pompous buffoon, and has decided to hold off from killing him until he has conclusively crushed all his dreams. * [[Sir Jacob of Raline|'Sir Jacob of Raline']]' '- Lowborn knight, nobleman and Imperial to the core, Jacob embodies everything Vritra despises about the Imperium. Vritra finds the knight and his rivalry with Lucifero fascinating and gladly assist the Knight of Chaos in his vendetta against Cadmus. With the fall of Cadmus and the dawn of the 13th Black Crusade, hopes rise in the dark legions of succeeding where Horus failed. Quotes Feel free to add your own! By About Gallery Vritra.jpg|Child's drawing of 'Vritra the Howling Daemon.' Taken from Shiva VII emperor's children rule.jpg|Vritra lends his aid to a Chaos raid. Notes * Vritra stars in the short story Memories of a Fiend. It details, in brief his time of service in the Great Crusade and his subsequent fall to Slaanesh, along with the rest of the Third Legion. Link now available on this wiki. * Vritra, Bal-Sareth and Mikael, the Laughing Swordsman are true ancients. Through the mercurial tides of the Warp, skill and sheer dumb luck, the three have experienced the ten-thousand years since the Horus Heresy nearly in realtime, making them all impossibly ancient even by the standards of Chaos Marines. * Vritra took longer than most to become a Champion of Chaos, with the mercurial Slaanesh holding off on bestowing Her mark. Vritra eventually caught the Dark Prince's eye when, high on sensory-enhancing stimulants, he ritually flayed himself alive with ''Nervescream, ''an experience unequaled in sheer agony even millenia after. Slaanesh sent a host of Daemonettes to tend to the bleeding, skinned Astartes, and when they put his armor back on, it bonded with him and he was marked by Slaanesh. * Despite, or perhaps because of his centuries of depravity, Vritra is an accomplished musician. Many of the symphonies he uses to blast his opponents apart are original compositions. Naturally, all of his works are incredibly corrupting, incorporating musical prayers to Slaanesh, though there are small, devoted Chaos cultists who follow the stylings of the Screaming Rapture, and constantly hunger for more. * Vritra, like all members of his warband, the Serpent Kings, is named after a figure from Hindu mythology. In his case, Vritra is named after the demonic serpent Vritra, who is known for his howl. * Vritra's theme song is Serpent's Kiss Category:Chaos Space Marines Category:Chaos Characters Category:Chaos Lords Category:Slaanesh Category:Chaos